In the essay, she describes once telling her own mother about a traumatizing experience she had with an ex: a story of sexual assault that has since gone viral. She discusses how her mom shared a similar story about herself with Tamblyn, as well as Tamblyn’s grandmother’s resulting response of “Boys will be boys” — a statement passed down for generations that the actress is standing up against today.

“Motherhood has been heavily on my mind because I am going to be a mother soon,” writes Tamblyn, 33. “I’m pregnant, with a daughter on the way. I think constantly about the world I am bringing her into. Will I get a phone call from my daughter someday, one she never wanted to make? Will I have to share with her my story, and the story of her great-grandmother’s words to her grandmother?”

She continues in the essay about how the current political climate is affecting her thoughts about bringing a little girl into the world, “Is it possible to protect her from inheriting this pain? How much do I have to do, as a daughter and a soon-to-be mother, to change not just the conversation about how women are seen, but the language with which conversations are spoken in?”

Tamblyn wed actor and comedian Cross, 52, in 2012 after a five-year courtship and August 2011 engagement. This is the first marriage, and first child, for both.

“I’ve been thinking about motherhood a lot lately. What it means to be one, what it means to have one, what it means to know one, what it means to make decisions as one and have conversations as one,” the former Joan of Arcadia star continues in her essay. “I am very lucky to be surrounded by strong mothers, from my own mom to some of my best friends — those who are raising young women to accept themselves and those who are raising young men to accept women.”

The actress ties her own experiences in with the current political climate — specifically, how society seems to expect presidential hopeful Hillary Clinton to be perfect.

“After I’m done writing this, I’ll go back to my desk and fill out my absentee ballot. I’ll be voting for more than just a woman; I’ll be voting for a revolutionary idea,” Tamblyn writes. “I’ll be voting for a future for my daughter where conversations about our bodies and our lives are broader than what value they have for men.”

She adds, “A future where being a mother is less about warning our daughters about our sons and is instead lifting them up to their greatest potential. A future where my girl will someday say, ‘Donald who?’ and think nothing is revolutionary about a woman becoming President. A future where she can’t even believe that was ever even a thing.”